Patrick Stewart
as Captain Jean-Lc Picard
Jean-Luc Picard is the son of a traditional French winemaker. Despite intense pressure from his father and his brother Robert, he decided not to take up the wine trade, but instead enrolled in Starfleet Academy.
His brother Robert took over the vineyard when their father died. (We meet Robert and his wife and son in the episode Family).
After a rather wild period as an Ensign (described in the episode Tapestry) he buckled down and worked hard. He rose through the ranks quite quickly, and within a few years was given command of the USS Stargazer, a lowly science vessel.
While under attack from an unidentified vessel, he invents a wholly new tactical maneuver, the Picard maneuver, and manages to destroy the attacking vessel. The Stargazer is so badly damaged that it is abandoned. It is rediscovered in the episode The Battle when the events of the attack are replayed.
Later, after gaining considerable experience in first contact situations and in negotiating treaties and trade agreements, Picard was given command of the Federation's brand new flagship, the Enterprise-D (NCC-1701-D).
His interests include acting, archeology, philosophy and classical music. He always drinks hot earl grey tea.
He also enjoys a series of novels about Dixon Hill, a Bogart-style private detective in 1940s Chicago, and enjoys acting them out in the Holodeck - see the episode The Long Goodbye.
Jonathan Frakes
as Commander William T Riker, First Officer
Jonathan Frakes also plays Lt. Thomas Riker, an exact duplicate
of Riker created in a freak transporter accident in the episode Second
Chances. Thomas Riker turns up again in the DS9 episode The Defiant.
Riker was brought up in Alaska, by his ambitious and overbearing father, after his mother died young. (We meet his father in The Icarus Factor.)
After graduating from Starfleet academy, his first posting was on the USS Pegasus which ends in a mutiny (in which he sided with the Captain). The consequences of this are explored in the brilliant episode The Pegasus.
Before joining the Enterprise, Riker was emotionally involved with Deanna Troi for several months. When he arrived on board the Enterprise to take up his posting as First Officer, he found that they are shipmates, and they have to work together.
Brent Spiner
as Lt Commander Data, Second Officer
(Brent Spiner also plays Lore and Noonian Soon)
Data is an android, one of two created by Noonian Soon, a brilliant but eccentric cyberneticist. The first android, superficially identical to Data, is called Lore and was shut down when it developed faults.
Data was discovered as the lone survivor when the colony where Noonian Soon was working was destroyed by a mysterious Crystalline Entity. (The Enterprise encounters the Entity in Datalore and Silicon Avatar).
Data soon enrols in Starfleet academy and soon passes with flying colours - the only android ever to do so.
For all his advantages (great strength, enormous intelligence and virtually unlimited processing power), Data has no emotions (until the very last few episodes of TNG), and does not understand much of human behaviour (especially humour!). Data's fondest wish is to understand the human equation, and become human himself.
In the episode The Offspring, Data creates a child android, Lal.
We meet Data's evil twin brother Lore in the episodes DataLore, Brothers, Silicon Avatar, Descent and Descent, Part II.
Although at first we think there were only two androids created by Noonian Soon, in the episode Inheritance we discover that there is a third.
LeVar Burton
as Lt Commander Geordi La Forge, Chief Engineer
Blind from birth, Geordi was outfitted with an electromagnetic visor that enables him to see much of the electromagnetic spectrum.
His mother was a Starfleet Captain and goes missing in the episode Interface (in which we also see his father).
An excellent engineer, he started out on board the Enterprise as Navigation Officer (in early episodes) but soon became the Chief Engineer, after the previous Chief Engineer got killed.
Geordi isn't particularly good with women, and we see him make the occasional disastrous mistake on dates. One particularly notable mistake occurs in the episode Booby Trap where he creates a hologram of Dr Leah Brahms, one of the original designers of the Enterprise, falls in love with the hologram and later meets the real Leah Brahms in Galaxy's Child!
Gates McFadden
as Dr Beverly Crusher, Chief Medical Officer
Beverley Crusher is the Enterprise's Chief Medical Officer, except during the second season when she was teaching at starfleet academy, when Dr Pulaski took her place on board the Enterprise.
She was married to Jack Crusher with whom she had a son, Wesley.
She has a secret crush on Captain Picard, which adds a bit of tension to the relationship and occasionally surfaces (for instance, in The Naked Now).
She is a keen dancer, and teaches Data to dance in the episode Data's Day. She is also involved in staging amateur dramatics, featured in several episodes including Frame of Mind.
Marina Sirtis
as Counselor Deanna Troi
Deanna Troi is the ship's counsellor - a role that did not exist in the Original Series. She is basically a psychologist who checks that all members of the crew are coping with the stresses and strains of life on board the Enterprise.
She is half-betazoid and half-human. The betazoids are telepathic and empathic. She is only empathic - she can sense emotions, but cannot read minds.
Before joining the Enterprise, Deanna was emotionally involved with Will Riker for several months. When she arrived on board the Enterprise, she found that they are shipmates, and they have to work together. Their relationship comes to the fore in the episode Haven when her mother Lwaxana arranges a marriage for her!
Her formal rank is Lt. Commander until the fifth season episode Disaster after which she decides to seek promotion to Commander. She manages this during the final season.
Denise Crosby
as Lt Tasha Yar, (first) Chief Security Officer
(NB: Denise Crosby also plays Sela).
Tasha Yar grew up on a remote Federation colony world where law and order broke down irretrievably. After her parents were killed, Tasha and her sister, Ishara (who we meet in the episode Legacy) had to survive alone from the age of 5, having to avoid all the criminal gangs who ran unchallenged throughout the colony - looters, murderers, and the infamous rape gangs.
Her sister Ishara joined the gangs in order to survive, but Tasha kept independent.
At the age of 12, a starfleet ship landed on the planet. the crew found Tasha and a kindly Starfleet Security officer offered to take her off the planet. She left, leaving her sister behind.
In gratitude to her rescuers, Tasha went to Starfleet Academy and soon graduated, and took up a career in security, becoming the Enterprise Chief Security Officer.
Towards the end of the first season, she was tragically killed by an evil entity called Ardros in the episode Skin of Evil.
Worf, her deputy, was then promoted to Chief Security Officer.
Michael Dorn
as Lt Worf, (second) Chief Security Officer
Worf is the only Klingon in Starfleet. As such, he is in a unique position, and we learn a lot about the Klingon Empire through his experiences.
Worf started on the Enterprise as a Flight Control Officer, and was then promoted to Chief Security Officer when Tasha Yar was killed in Skin of Evil.
Worf continued as Chief Security Officer until the end of TNG.
In the first TNG movie, Star Trek: Generations, Worf was promoted to Lt Commander.
After the Enterprise was destroyed at the end of Star Trek: Generations, Worf accepted a commission on Deep Space Nine, transferred from Security to Command and got promoted again to Commander.
Worf's family are explored in the following TNG episodes:
Key Klingon Empire episodes include:
Wil Wheaton
as Wesley Crusher
Wesley is Beverley Crusher's and Jack Crusher's son.
He is a young, brash and irritating teenager when he is first stationed aboard the Enterprise with his mother.
However, for all his faults, Wesley is something of a prodigy, studying advanced warp theory at the age of 13.
At first, he and Captain Picard do not get on, and he is banned from the Bridge, but eventually he is not only allowed on the Bridge, but is appointed as an Acting Ensign.
He gets into trouble on numerous occasions, nearly getting the ship blown up in The Naked Now, and nearly getting killed in Justice. However, he also saves the Enterprise several times. When the Enterprise is thrown thousands of light years off course after a warp drive experiment (in the episode Where No One Has Gone Before), the crew meet a mysterious alien called The Traveler, who tells them that Wesley is destined for greatness.
Wesley takes the entrance exams for Starfleet Academy twice, failing narrowly the first time, and succeeding the second time. He then leaves the Enterprise for the Academy.
After an excellent start at the Academy, Wesley gets into some serious trouble in the episode First Duty.
In the final season episode Journey's End, Wesley comes back to the Enterprise as a bitter and angry young man, disillusioned with Starfleet. He announces his resignment from the Academy, and encounters a group of American Indians with a mysterious holy man.
Whoopi
Goldberg as Guinan
Guinan is the Enterprise's resident bar tender. The Enterprise-D has a bar in the forwardmost part of the saucer section, on deck 10. Surprisingly enough, this bar is called Ten Forward.
Guinan is an El Aurian, a member of an ancient race who are reputed to be great listeners. El Aurians are very long-lived in the episode Time's Arrow we learn that Guinan has been around on the Earth since the 1800s).
Guinan is an old friend of Captain Picard and acts as a sort of unofficial confidante to him.
In Best of Both Worlds, we learn that Guinan's world was destroyed by the Borg many centuries before, and the remaining El Aurians are scattered throughout the Universe.
Colm
Meaney as Miles Edward O'Brien, Conn Officer/Transporter Chief
Rosalind Chao as Keiko O'Brien
Keiko comes aboard the Enterprise as a plant biologist. Data introduces her to Chief O'Brien, with whom she falls in love. They are married by Captain Picard in the episode Data's Day, with Data as best man.
Keiko and O'Brien have a child, Molly.
Keiko has major parts in: Data's Day / Disaster / Power Play / Rascals.
Majel Barrett as Lwaxana Troi (Deanna Troi's mother.)
Lwaxana Troi is a Betazoid Ambassador. As a full-blooded Betazoid, she is both telepathic and empathic. There is a certain amount of tension between her and her daughter Deanna. Lwaxana feels that Deanna should be married, and on one memorable occasion (the episode Haven), Lwaxana arranges a marriage for Deanna!
Lwaxana is a colourful character, who rather tends to pursue any male in reach. She tries to seduce Picard and Riker in the episode Manhunt and periodically appears on the Enterprise, usually in search of some man (or even holodeck character!).
Lwaxana appears in: Haven / Manhunt / Menage A Troi / Half A Life / Cost of Living and Dark Page.
Majel Barrett is actually Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, Gene Roddenberry's widow.
She is the only person to be in the credits on all four Star Trek series: she played Nurse Christine Chapel in the original series of Star Trek. She plays Lwaxana in TNG and in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and also plays the female voice of Starfleet computers in TNG, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager.
John
De Lancie as the mysterious Q
Q is the first significant alien the Enterprise crew meet at the start of TNG, and is a member of the Q Continuum, a non-corporeal race with godlike powers. Unfortunately, he is a mischievious character who frequently puts the Enterprise and its crew in great jeopardy.
Q appears in: Encounter At Farpoint / Hide And Q / Q Who / Deja Q / Qpid / True Q / Tapestry / All Good Things.
He has also appeared on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in the episode Q-Less and on Star Trek: Voyager in the episode Death Wish (Voyager).
As well as playing Tasha Yar, Denise Crosby also plays Sela, the half-Romulan daughter of a Tasha Yar from an alternate timeline, who we meet in the superb episode Yesterday's Enterprise, where we also learn the fate of the previous Enterprise, the NCC-1701C.
She appears in: Redemption / Redemption - Part II / Unification - Part I / Unification - Part II).
Carel Struycken as Mr Homm (Lwaxana Troi's almost silent servant).
We're not quite sure which Lwaxana Troi episodes Mr Homm appears in - it's some of the following: / Haven / Manhunt / Menage A Troi / Half A Life / Cost of Living and Dark Page.
Diana Muldaur
as Dr Kate Pulaski
Dr Pulaski takes over from Dr Beverley Crusher as Chief Medical Officer on board the Enterprise in the second season when Dr Crusher is away at Starfleet Academy.
Dr Pulaski has major roles in Unnatural Selection and Elementary, Dear Data.
Dwight Schultz as Lt Reg Barclay
Reg Barclay is a very nervy, almost paranoid young Starfleet engineer with profound personal problems and a bad case of hypochondria.
He is something of a comedy character, played by Dwight Schultz who is well known as the wonderful Murdoch in the very silly The A-Team.
Barclay appears in: Hollow Pursuits / The Nth Degree / Ship In A Bottle / Realm of Fear / Genesis.
Nurse Ogawa appears quite often, but has major roles in: Suspicions and Genesis.
Michele Forbes as Ensign Ro Laren
Ensign Ro is a starfleet Ensign who was a Bajoran refugee. (In accordance with Bajoran custom, Ro is her last name).
She grew up in a Cardassian concentration camp and passionates hates the Cardassians for murdering her father in front of her eyes!
Ensign Ro is the first Bajoran we meet, and as Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is set in orbit around Bajor, it is through her that we learn a lot about the Bajoran/Cardassian situation that underpins Deep Space Nine.
Ensign Ro has major roles in: Ensign Ro / Conundrum / Power Play / The Next Phase / Rascals / Preemptive Strike.
K'Ehleyr is a half-human, half-Klingon woman - the first Klingon woman that we meet in TNG!), and she and Worf were involved before he boarded the Enterprise. When they meet again in The Emissary she and Worf mate, and when we see her again in Reunion she brings a little surprise - Worf's son, Alexander.
An excellent strong female character, it is very unfortunate that K'Ehleyr is killed by Worf's greatest enemy, Duras in the events of Reunion.
Alexander is Worf and K'Ehleyr's son.
After his mother's death at the hands of Duras in the episode Reunion, Alexandar is sent to live with Worf's foster parents Sergey and Helena Rozhenko on Earth.
However, he has problems when growing up that are similar to Worf's own - being the only Klingon child on Earth - so he soon returns to the Enterprise to be with Worf.
Alexandar has major roles in: Reunion / New Ground / Ethics / Cost of Living / A Fistful of Datas / Firstborn).
Tony Todd as K'urn (Worf's true brother.)
K'urn appears in: Sins of the Father / Redemption / Redemption - Part II / Sons of Mogh (DS9)).
(Tony Todd also appeared as the old Jake Sisko in the excellent Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode The Visitor)
Charles Cooper as K'empec (Emperor of the Klingon Empire at the start of TNG)
K'Empec appears in: Sins of the Father and Reunion, where he is poisoned.
Duras is the head of a powerful Klingon family, a member of the Klingon High Council, and stands a good chance of becoming the next Emperor after K'empec.
In Sins of the Father we see Duras attempt to blame Worf's father Mogh for the Khitomer massacre (in which Worf's parents died).
In fact, Duras's own father was the traitor who really betrayed the Khitomer colony to the Romulans.
In Reunion Worf and Duras meet again, and matters come to a head when Duras murders Worf's mate K'Ehleyr.
Gowron is the second Klingon emperor we meet in TNG, and was crowned by Captain Picard in his unusual role as the Klingon Arbiter of Succession, which he was forced to accept by the first Klingon emperor K'Empec.
Gowron appears in: Redemption / Redemption - part II / Rightful Heir / The House of Quark (DS9) / Way of the Warrior (DS9) / Rules of Engagement (DS9) / Broken Link (DS9) / Apocalypse Rising (DS9).
Barbara March as Lursa (one of the Duras sisters.)
After the death of their brother Duras at Worf's hands (see the episode Reunion), Lursa and her sister B'etor take over as the acting heads of the Duras family, despite Klingon tradition, and prove that they are just as devious and greedy as their dead brother.
Lursa and B'etor appear in: Sins of the Father / Redemption / Redemption - Part II / Firstborn and Star Trek: Generations.
Gwynyth Walsh as B'etor (the other Duras sister.)
See Lursa for details.
Susan Gibney as Dr. Leah Brahms
Leah Brahms, one of the original designers of the Enterprise, is summoned up by Geordi La Forge as a hologram in the episode Booby Trap as a convenient way to help Geordi visualise the computer's Engineering knowledge of the Enterprise. However, Geordi rapidly grows attached to the hologram simulation of Leah Brahms, and falls in love with her.
Geordi finally meets Leah Brahms in: Galaxy's Child, where he has to face up to the fact that she's never met him, doesn't love him, and that it's altogether more difficult with a real woman than a hologram!
Although Leah Brahms doesn't appear in Star Trek: Generations, there is a throwaway reference that a future Geordi has married the future Leah.
Jack is Beverley Crusher's dead husband, and Wesley's father.
Jack was killed in an accident on the starship on which he served, commanded by Captain Picard.
He appears in: Family / Violations / Journey's End).
The mysterious Traveler, a sort of guide to Wesley Crusher, appears in: Where No One Has Gone Before / Remember Me and Journey's End.
Minuet, a hologram simulation of the perfect women (at least for Will Riker) appears in: 11001001 and Future Imperfect.
Vash is a greedy, unscrupulous and rather charming adventuress who Picard meets first while on vacation on Captain's Holiday, and again (at the behest of Q) in Qpid who then turns up with Q on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in Q-Less.
(Jennifer Hetrick has also appeared as Sharon Skinner in The X-Files. )
Andreas Katsulas as Commander Tomulak (a Romulan officer)
Tomulak appears in: The Neutral Zone / Future Imperfect / The Enemy / The Defector).
(Andreas Katsulas has also appeared as G'kar, the Narn ambassador in Babylon 5).
Rhonda Alrich as Madeline (Picard's secretary in his Holodeck detective program)
(Appears in: The Big Goodbye / Manhunt / Clues).
Mark Lenard as Spock's father, Sarek
Sarek appears in: the Original Series / Sarek / Unification - Part I).
Daniel Davis as Professor Moriarty
Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes' great arch-enemy, appears on the Enterprise as a holodeck character when Data, Geordi and Dr Pulaski try to solve a Holmesian mystery in the wonderful episode Elementary, Dear Data.
Unfortunately, due to a mistake on Geordi's part, and a very literal minded computer, Moriarty becomes a sentient lifeform with the ability to comprehend the external reality - and influence it!
Moriarty reappears in Ship in a Bottle.
Ward Costello as Admiral Gregory Quinn
A member of Starfleet's deeply unpopular Internal Affairs division, Admiral Quinn and his obnoxious sidekick Remmick come on board the Enterprise and investigate Picard's record as Captain.
Both Quinn and Remmick reappear in the wonderful Conspiracy episode.
Robert Schenkkan as Lt Cmdr. Dexter Remmick
Appears with Admiral Quinn in Coming of Age and Conspiracy.
After making himself deeply unpopular with the Enterprise crew in Coming of Age, at least we get the satisfaction of seeing his head blow up in Conspiracy. (Also see the notes at the top of season one).
John Hancock as Admiral Haden
Appears in: The Defector and The Wounded.
Lycia Naff as Ensign Sonya Gomez
Ensign Gomez was one of the good characters that never took off in TNG. She first appears as a nervous new Ensign, determined to impress and trying way too hard, and manages to make herself memorable by spilling hot coffee on Captain Picard!
Appears in: Q Who and Samaritan Snare.
Mary Kohnert as Ensign Tess Allenby
Appears in: Final Mission and The Loss.
Julie Warner as Christy Henshaw
Appears in: Booby Trap and Transfigurations.
Pamela Winslow as Ensign McKnight
Appears in: Clues and In Theory.
Lanei Chapman as Ensign Rager
Appears in: Night Terrors / Relics and Schisms.
(Lanei Chapman has also appeared as Vanessa Dampfuss in Space: Above and Beyond. )
Ashley Judd as Robin Leffler ( Wesley Crusher's girlfriend for a while)
Appears in: Disaster and The
Game.
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